11 Wednesday Nov 2015
Posted in Great News!, Toot Your Horn!
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Kite Tales loves to celebrate our SCBWI members. Congratulations to all listed below!
TOOT YOUR OWN HORN!
A Girl Undone by Catherine Linka, St. Martin’s Press, ages 12+, dystopian, ISBN: 978-1-2506-8675, released June 24, 2015
Hotel Transylvania 2 Movie Novel by Stacia Deutsch, Simon Spotlight, ages 3-7, movie tie in, ISBN: 978-1-4814-4819-2, released August 18, 2015
04 Wednesday Nov 2015
Posted in Los Angeles
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LitMingles: Our new name for the Schmoozes. LitMingles are free meetings throughout L.A. County on a variety of topics. To learn more about one in your area, please visit: http://losangeles.scbwi.org/mingle-calendar/
2016 Contests:
Mentor Contest: Win a 6 month Mentorship for a MG or YA Author. Contest opens for entries from March 1-31, 2016. Watch for more information on the Mentor and contest details coming soon. SCBWI-L.A. members only. http://losangeles.scbwi.org/contests/mentor-contest/
28 Wednesday Oct 2015
Posted in LitMingles!
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Change is good, right? Everyone says so. It’s generally thought of as a necessity for growth. Adapt or perish and all that.
As writers and illustrators of material for children, we count on our audience changing, “graduating” from picture books to easy readers and chapter books, and then onward to the ever-expanding and constantly shifting world of novels for young readers and teens.
Similarly, SCBWI has made lots of changes as an organization over the years, and recently they made another one – they decided to rename our Schmoozes. The idea was to switch to something that sounded a bit more professional, and didn’t carry with it the possible negative connotation of gossip.
West Side Schmooze
21 Wednesday Oct 2015
Posted in Contests & Grants, Mentorship Contest
The best advice aspiring author-illustrator Matthew Rivera received during the mentorship he won from SCBWI-L.A. was to wear a short tie. That’s because he’s working on a story about a dapper, yet fussy giraffe who finds a tie he really likes, but it’s too short for his long neck. Mentor Deborah Nourse Lattimore suggested that Matthew wear a short tie and, as he went about his day, ask himself questions: “How do I feel when I see myself in the mirror? Do I feel self-conscious in public? How do people look at me?” The exercise proved tremendously helpful for putting Matthew into the mind of his main character in order to better illustrate personality.
From The Dapper Giraffe, a work-in-progress by Matthew Rivera
14 Wednesday Oct 2015
Posted in Central Coast
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SketchCrawl at the Santa Barbara Zoo
June 7, 2015
Creative individuals met for a day of sketching, writing, and sharing.
02 Friday Oct 2015
Posted in SoCal
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It’s hard to believe that autumn is here! That means that Editor’s Day 2015 is right around the corner. It will be held at the Titan Theater, California State University Fullerton (located inside the Titan Student Union) on Saturday, October 3.
Our wonderful editorial speakers include: Erica Finkel – Editor at Abrams Books, Taylor Norman – Assistant Editor at Chronicle Books, Becky Shapiro – Associate Editor at Scholastic Books, Jeffrey Salane – Editorial Director of Little Simon – Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division and Kristine Brogno – Children’s Design Director at Chronicle Books. They will be joined by our terrific local talent: Jennifer Grey Olson, Spotlight Author/Illustrator, Henry L. Herz, Spotlight Author and Rodolfo Montalvo, Spotlight Illustrator. The delightful Sara Sciuto of Fuse Literary Agency (formerly Foreword Literary) will be joining us for panels and pitches. Our speakers will be focusing on craft so if you plan to join us be prepared to take lots of notes!
16 Wednesday Sep 2015
Posted in Volunteer in the Spotlight
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I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was in college, but the aspiration really started when I was little, making up stories in the backyard making mud pies.
After college, I wanted to be a part of a writing family. I didn’t find this family until SCBWI came along.
I work as an emergency room clerk. Sometimes my job is stressful but I always find the time to write.
I use to write suspense stories along the lines of Mary Higgins Clark. But I found my voice along with my inner child and began writing children’s picture books.
I am a co-editor of Kite Tales.
09 Wednesday Sep 2015
Posted in Great News!, Industry News
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Kite Tales loves to celebrate our SCBWI members. Congratulations to all listed below!
GREAT NEWS
Christine Brallier’s picture book illustrations have been featured on Julie Danielson’s blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=3610). Christine is a stained glass mosaic artist and the post shows the mosaic process in detail, from first sketch to final artwork. She was also recently interviewed by Kathy Temean on her blog, Writing and Illustrating (https://kathytemean.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/illustrator-saturday-christine-brallier/), and her illustrated book, The Night Before Christmas, was featured at Fuse #8 Productions where Betsy Bird said it was “one of the most beautiful Christmas children’s books I’ve ever seen.” Wonderful press for a self published book!
28 Friday Aug 2015
Posted in Agent's Perspective
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agents, Alexandra Penfold, Barry Goldblatt, Brenda Bowen, conferences, SCBWI events, SCBWI members
The 2015 SCBWI Summer conference had an impressive line-up of agents including Alexandra Penfold, Barry Goldblatt and Brenda Bowen. There is a good amount of information out there answering questions about how to get an agent and how to write a fabulous (the ever elusive and tricky) query letter, but much less talked about is what happens once an agent’s interest is piqued. We wanted insider information on how these top of the line agents work with potential clients. They were kind enough to take time out of their busy conference schedules to talk with us.
26 Wednesday Aug 2015
Posted in SCBWI Summer Conference
“In Reverence of Resonance”
At the 44th Annual SCBWI Summer Conference, the esteemed Mem Fox, Queen of children’s storybooks, told us that there are really only two themes in all of literature: the “Quest” and the “Stranger Comes to Town.” As a first-time conference goer, I certainly felt like the ‘stranger come to town’ as I navigated my way through the biggest Summer Conference to date – a whopping 1,173 people attending from 19 countries (including France, Japan, Spain and Bangladesh!) and 48 states represented. But with over 400 “pre-published” new attendees just like me, I knew I wouldn’t be alone for long.
Kite Tales 